Catching Lightning
by xBeautiful
Summary: A storm thrusts her directly into the world of Troy Bolton. And what these two learn from each other is more than just friendship. Oh yes, a heck of a lot more. TxG Previously titled 'Promise Me' .
1. One

**Title: Promise Me**

**Author: Nicole, (xBeautiful)**

**Pairing: Troyella, Troy/Gabriella**

**Summary: Gabriella is left all alone when her mother suffers a heart attack. Little does she know that someone is living just two doors down. Someone that could save her.**

**Author's Note: Hey guys. I've been re-writing this chapter for awhile. I guess this is okay. I know I have another story going right now, and school is starting soon, so don't expect very frequent updates. This is a re-written version of my first story, Storm, that was posted and deleted a couple weeks ago.**

**I hope you enjoy this first chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Oh, how I wish I did.**

**--**

**August 19th, 2008**

It's all so clear.

The second worst day of my life.

The day my mother _almost _stopped breathing.

**July 2nd, 2008, 2:43 AM**

Thunder clouded her window, bellowing and howling as she sat up abruptly, clutching her sheets. She shut her eyes tightly, hearing the ringing of the thunder and lightning, and prayed that it would go away. Soon, if not now.

Showing no signs of mercy, rain continued to drop, fat, wet bits of ice cold liquid. She curled into a little ball, scooting over to the corner furthest away from her french balcony doors on her queen-sized four poster bed. Suddenly it seemed like this bed was not as small as it looked when it was purchased and her favorite navy blue duvet cover seemed almost as cold as the storm itself.

'Don't fret, Gabriella,' the girl told herself aloud, 'you're sixteen and still afraid of storms?' She laughed weakly, trying to reassure her shaking body and rapidly beating heart. 'Besides, you always liked big beds. Why should this one be any different?'

It didn't work.

Rubbing her eyes, she yawned, covering her mouth with one hand. She was tired, she knew, exhausted from all the un-packing they had done today, but she could not fall asleep. She wouldn't.

She dragged the wrinkled blankets even closer to her small body, if that was even possible, almost creating a fort-like space. Just like a snowball fort, she thought, though it would not be protecting her from packed snow. It would shield her from the storm outside.

At least, she hoped.

It didn't work.

Something fell to the ground with a soft _thud _and she sucked in a nervous breath. _Don't worry;_ i_t was probably just a comb or something._

Her shivering grew uncontrollable.

'Gabriella,' she told herself sternly, 'you asked mother to have this bedroom. You asked for the room with the balcony. Granted, it was the largest one, but mother gave it to you because she loves you. It's a privilege.'

How she wished Shadow were here.

She sighed heavily.

Pushing away the bedclothes one by one, she moved over to one side of the sizable bed and swung her legs over so that her nail-polish clad toes just barely touched the ground.

Biting her lip, she hesitated before carefully planting her feet firmly on the cool surface.

The linoleum floor was cold against her feet.

Stretching her arms, she treaded soundlessly over to the big doors protecting her from the wind. She drew the soft lavender curtains, peering out gingerly.

The oak tree had snapped.

Sighing, she let the soft material slip from her hands and they fell back into place. Would the roof come off? After all, if a great big oak tree broke in half because of some wind, anything could happen, couldn't it?

_Absolutely._

'Oh, don't be silly, Gabriella,' she told herself. 'Mami's company chose this house for us. It's good and strong and sturdy.' She turned around.

Careful not to trip on the few brown boxes still encircling her bedroom, she crept down the stairs. _Some warm water will do me good._

She turned on the bright lights. Looking around, she slowly advanced toward the water dispenser sitting alone in the corner.

Taking a small sip, she stepped cautiously back up the wide wooden stairs before squinting at the pale white doors of her mother's bedroom.

'Mami?' she whispered, knocking lightly.

Hearing nothing, she grasped the large brass doorknob, anxiously twisting it open. 'Mami?'

She tried again, slightly louder this time.

Tiptoeing to the grand mahogany bed, she pulled the covers away from her mother's face.

It was pale. Ghostly pale. Deathly pale. _Strangely _pale.

She gasped. Stumbling backwards, the soft quilts slipped away from her grasp. Her brain was now going a hundred miles, a millions miles a minute, but preoccupied with just one thing.

Maria wasn't breathing.

--

Realizing now what she had to do; the girl flew to her room, regardless of the carefully wrapped boxes she had knocked over in attempt to open her bedroom door. She snatched the cordless phone off her bedside table, dialing quickly, furiously.

'911, how may I help you?' a bored and tired voice answered.

'Yes, my mo….mother is not breathing and she looks very pale.' Gabriella forced out, choking back the tears that were threatening to erupt.

'Okay, does she have a pulse?' the now somewhat sympathetic voice questioned.

'Ummmm….. yes, but it's very faint.' Gabriella replied, placing her fingers lightly on her mother's wrist.

'Right, can you tell us your address?'

'614 Birch Street.' Gabriella hung up the phone, feeling much worse than before, and slumped to a heap on the floor beside Maria's bed.

'Oh, mami, please don't do this to me,' she pleaded sobbing, holding her mother's cold, frigid hand limply in her own. 'I'm only sixteen, I can't lose you too.'

**July 2nd, 2008, 2:51 AM**

The sound of the ambulance shook her out of her daze. She glanced at her watch, lifting her hand up to her face. _2:52. How impressive. 4 miutes 42 seconds. _She stood up, shaking her head, having temporarily forgotten her mother.

She refused to watch her mother be carried away.

'Would you like to ride in the ambulance with your mother?' She looked up at the man clad in red and white.

'No, it's okay. I'd rather stay here.' She spoke softly, shaking her head and watched as he nodded in understanding and walked away.

It was silent as they drove away, and the house was still.

'Oh, this is just great.' She said sarcastically, wiping away a tear. 'Now I'm alone in a hge old house with a bunch of unopened boxes for company.' Starting towards the front door that was left ajar, she sighed.

'Dear, are you all right?' A woman's voice said from behind her. 'You don't look so well.' Gabriella whipped around to see a tall woman in a red bathrobe. Had she seen her somewhere? She looked eerily familiar.

'I don't know.' She answered truthfully, though she did not know why she was talking to this woman in the first place. 'I don't know.'

'Okay.' The woman smiled softly. 'I understand, Gabriella.' At this the young girl's head shot up.

'How do you know my name?' The woman chuckled.

'I'm your neighbor. I've been to visit the other day, do you remember? Though I don't think you saw me.' She patted Gabriella's shoulder. 'I'm Lucille. Lucille Bolton. I live in that house over there, the one with the dark roof.' She pointed to a house two houses down, and although it was quite dark, Gabriella could just barely make out the silhouette of a cheerful yellow house about the same size as her own.

'Oh. I'm Gabriella.' As soon as it came out, she felt silly. Lucille already knew, and Gabriella flushed. Somehow she didn't feel comfortable telling her her second name.

Lucille smiled. 'Yes, I know. Gabriella Montez.'

Oh, she already knew.

Shivering, Gabriella let her eyes wander as she wrung her hands nervously.

'Oh dear, it's getting late, why don't you come over tonight?' Lucille suggested. 'You could sleep in our guest bedroom, if you wish.' Though Gabriella was taken aback by how forward she was being, she didn't let it show.

'Alright.' She agreed, shrugging. Lucille didn't _look _harmful.

The older woman wrapped an arm around Gabriella's shoulders. 'Okay, then. Come with me. We'll get you you some hot cocoa, and I'll show you where the guest bedroom is, alright?'

**July 3rd, 2008, 9:54 AM**

Where am I?

She stood up, yawning and stretched. Sleepily glancing around the brightly lit room, she remembered last night's events and groaned.

But she knew she had to get up.

She looked around for a bathroom, peering down the lone hallway.

Seeing one, she sauntered towards it, scrutinizing her surroundings. _A closet, an indoor swimming pool, photographs on a table, an indoor basketball court..._

And she was about to open the door when it was vacated and a boy about the same age as herself pulled it open from the inside, not seeing her at first.

She bumped into him.

'Hey.'

Killer. Blue. Eyes.

--

**So, I sorta left you with a cliffy there, lol. I'm evil, yes I know. Did anybody else think it was funny that the ambulance dude was wearing Wildcat colors?**

**People who have read my story before may recognize some parts.**

**Lol.**

**Review!**

**Love, Nicole**


	2. Two

**Author's Note: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.**

**As I've said in my profile, I'm not exactly what you'd call a regular updater, so...yeah.**

**Basically, thanks to everyone who reviewed and to Luc(HSMandChealseaFCfan) for betaing this chappie.**

**I hope you enjoy.**

**Summary: Gabriella is left all alone when her mother suffers a heart attack. Little does she know that someone is living just two doors down. Someone that could save her.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**--**

**Chapter 2**

She could not control the butterflies.

There are various things in life you cannot control.

Like when you get your period, when you lose your first tooth, when and if you get glasses.

Now, all these things I have listed above really have nothing to do with the story.

And so here it is.

**July 3rd, 2008, 9:55 AM**

His hand was still on her arm, where he had laid just a few seconds ago to steady her. She eyed it warily, slightly uncomfortable but couldn't stop her eyes roaming. Her gaze went up to where the sleeve of his t-shirt covered his toned arms, which showed he obviously kept in shape with some sort of exercise or sport.

Until she realized he was still waiting.

'Ummm, hi?' She managed a squeaky sort of whisper, looking down.

'Gabriella? Are you up yet, dear?' The sound was familiar to both of them.

'Mrs.Bol- ah, Lucille!' She was quite thankful for the distraction. 'Over here!' Lucille turned her head, seeing the brunette.

'There you are! Would you like some panca- oh, good morning Troy. As I was saying-' But Gabriella had stopped listening.

Of course.

He was her son.

Now she looked and saw the similarities. The same nose. The same chin.

'Why don't you come with me and we'll get you something to eat, if you don't like pancakes?' Lucille smiled warmly, and without waiting for an answer she took the young girl and started heading up the stairs.

'Did you sleep well last night? Was the bed comfortable?' The older woman inquired.

'Yes, it was fine. Thank you Lucille.' She limited herself to the minimum number of words.

Don't mention it, dear. The least you deserved was a good night's sleep.' Gabriella nodded gratefully and scanned the room.

'This is the dining room. We usually have breakfast in the kitchen, if you don't mind.'

'Oh no, it's perfectly fine with me.' As she stepped into the bright kitchen, she noticed a man wearing a plaid bathrobe, reading a newspaper and drinking what looked like a mug of coffee. He lowered the paper when he saw her come in.

'Hello. Gabriella, is it?' She nodded numbly. 'I'm Jack.' He got up and walked over, guiding her to a seat. 'Welcome.'

'So, umm, what do you do?' Gabriella tried desperately for conversation, bringing up the only subject she could think of. 'I mean, your job.' She flushed a bright red, realizing how awkward that must have seemed.

'Oh, I'm the basketball coach of East High School, it's just about a 10 minute walk from here. My kids, Hailey and Troy, go to school there.' Gabriella detected a small twinkle in his eyes. 'Hailey's not up yet, but you might see them a bit later.' _Basketball coach? So that explains the basketball court downstairs._

'You look about the same age as Hailey. She's fifteen. Troy's sixteen. How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?'

'I'm fifteen, Mr.Bolton.' Gabriella said lightly.

'Oh, good. You're the same age. And no need for formalities here, you can just call me Jack.' She nodded a bit stiffly.

'Oh, I'm sorry you must be starving! Go ahead, eat up! Syrup or jam for you?'

'Umm, syrup please.' He passed it to her, and she poured some onto her breakfast. Sitting on the chair, she peered out the window and didn't notice both Lucille and Jack looking at her curiously.

'Hey Mom! And Dad. I'll be back befor-' Troy strode into the room, an orange basketball in hand.

'Troy, this is Gabriella. She'll be staying with us for the time being.' Jack gestured towards the curly-haired brunette. 'Gabriella, this is my son Troy.' Troy glanced at her. He hadn't been able to see much of her face when they were downstairs due to the fact that she was looking down most of the time; but now he held their gaze confidently.

She was beautiful.

Unlike most of the girls at East High, she didn't cover her face with makeup. Her hair was a mass of chocolate curls, eyes a deep chestnut brown, and full lips that now sat in a slight pout as she looked back at him in a somewhat questioning sort of way.

Of course, the makeup part could've just been because she hadn't woken up 20 minutes; but somehow he knew, no, he sensed that she was different.

At least, he hoped.

But, due to previous experiences, he also knew that he_ shouldn't _get his hopes up. Hope was so easy to give in to and yet so hard to handle when it died.

But anyway.

So he mumbled a quick hello, and was starting to ask a question when he stopped, seeing the glares and warning on the normally calm faces of his parents and the way Gabriella's face dropped ever so slightly.

And this he did not understand.

What was so wrong about asking why she was here? After all, people don't just _pop _out of nowhere.

Or did they?

No, he confirmed, they did not.

He decided that it was probably because of respect. Parents (and teachers) were always onto their kids about respect.

It was the only logical explanation at the moment.

'Okay...' He raised his eyebrows.

'So, what were you saying?' Lucille asked, changing the subject. Troy looked at her.

'Oh, umm, I'll be home before lunch. The guys are going to Zeke's.' He said casually.

'Okay, that's fine. Do you want some breakfast?'

He shook his head. 'Nah, I'm good. See you later.' He nodded respectfully to Gabriella, who smiled a little, hurriedly grabbed a bottle of water from the counter after seeing how late it was and went out the door.

And he thought about her the whole way there.

**July 3rd, 2008, 10:23 AM**

'Hailey! Hailey! I know you're up, stop listening to your iPod!' As she spoke these words, Lucille leaned her ear to the door and smirked when she heard shuffling. 'Come out!'

The teenager opened the door with a yawn. 'What?' She mumbled, barely looking at her mother.

'Gee, what time did you get to sleep last night?' Hailey rubbed her eyes.

'Like, 1 AM?' She smothered another yawn. 'Tay kept me up all night talking about stupid Chad. Why'd you wake me up so early anyway? It's not some emergency family meeting about some home improvement project we're having again, is it?' Scratching her cheek, she stumbled down the stairs following Lucille, who sighed and wondered if Taylor's parents were dealing with this as well in the McKessie household.

'No, and well, next time please don't stay up so late.'

'It's not late, Mom, it's just...well...' She sneezed. 'What did you want anyway?'

'There's someone I want you to meet.' Lucille knew with this sentence she had captured her daughter's attention.

'Really? Who is it? It's a girl, right? Where is she?'

Lucille laughed. 'Not so fast. Yes, it is a girl. Her name is Gabriella. And as far as I know, she's in one of the guest bedrooms right now.'

'Gabriella? That's a nice name.' Hailey wrinkled her nose. 'Why's she in the guest bedroom?'

'Because she'll be staying with us for a while.' Lucille explained patiently.

'Oh...why?'

'Well, it's not really my place to say.'

'Oh...' They came to the door and Lucille knocked politely.

'Gabriella, dear? Can you come out for just a second please, if that's okay?' Hailey heard footsteps and the door swung open revealing a pretty Latina girl about the same height and age as herself.

'Gabriella, this is my daughter; my youngest child, Hailey.'

--

**Thanks for reading, and don't forget to drop a review or two!**

**Nicole.xx**


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